Another rescue to do!

[RobertB]

     Last night I received a phone call from Phil S. in the Los Angeles area.  He wants to give away all his C= hardware gathered since the 1980's.  He said that there was no software.  I asked him how much hardware, and he couldn't really tell me, so I hope it fits my Ford Crown Vic sedan (or should I take my Mercury Colony Park station wagon?).
     I was just in the L.A. last weekend for the SC3 Arcade Party, but I did plan to return on the last weekend of the month for a Star Trek film festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.  So, I think the itinerary is this:  Friday, leave school and spend the night at a hotel in Bakersfield; Saturday, drive to where Phil lives and pick up the C= hardware, check into a Burbank hotel, and head off to the S.T. festival; Sunday, check out of the hotel, attend the last night of the festival, and make the long drive back to Visalia.

          Well, those are the plans,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug
          The Other Group of Amigoids
          http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
          http://www.sccaners.org

[RobertB]

     Ack!  The bad weather here in California has cancelled my plans to go this weekend to pick Phil's C= stuff.  The freeway between the Central Valley (where I live) and the Los Angeles area is being snowed in.  I have already told Phil that I will go to his place on Sunday, April 3.  No Star Trek film festival that weekend, but there will be a Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank and the SCCAN meeting in Castaic.

          FCUG celebrating 30 years,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug
          The Other Group of Amigoids
          http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
          http://www.sccaners.org

[RobertB]

     I picked up Phil's C= goods a few weeks ago, but the trip to Hermosa Beach (south of Long Beach) bore only a flat C128, 1541 disk drive, a 40/80-column monitor, and a few disks.  In his e-mails he had kept mentioning a hard drive, but there was none.  He had probably confused hard drive with disk drive.
     Filmmakers Rory and Jerold met me at the residence, too, in hopes of filming Phil give me the materials, but Phil wouldn't have any of that.  Unperturbed, Rory and Jerold helped me haul the equipment out of Phil's crowded attic room.
     Afterwards, as Rory and Jerold were about ready to leave, I dug into my car and handed Jerold a C64C, matching power supply, and 1541-II with p.s..  He had wanted one for some time, and he wanted to pay me right there and then.  He gave $10, and I said that those monies would go to this year's CommVEx.

          Back from seeing 140+ PETs and more,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug
          July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo v7 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex

[RobertB]

     A few weeks ago Judy Ranheim, widow of John Ranheim of the Jason Ranheim Company, contacted me.  She wanted to know if anyone in our club would be interested in gathering the remainder of the goods left over from the Jason Ranheim Co..  Jason Ranheim of Auburn, California was famous back in the 1980's and 1990's for marketing specialized boards for the Commodore, such as the Promenade C1.
     After gauging the interest from club members, I responded to her, and so, next Sunday I will go to her house and stuff as much as I can into the Ford Crown Victoria.  Most of the items are C64 and PET-related, except the Atari reported at

          http://retro-link.com/smf/index.php?topic=1001.msg2877#new

Photos will eventually be posted at http://retro-link.blogspot.com

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

     Mission accomplished!  Last night I visited Judy Ranheim who was with her daughter, Jenn.  We talked about the state of Commodore clubs in California and about the various micro-hardware projects for the Commodore.  We talked about John and his life before, during, and after Commodore.  (She informed me of something I didn't know about the Jason Ranheim Company; there was no Jason... it was a fictitious name.  However, everybody else in the family had a name that started with J.)  We discussed the days when John and she would travel to Commodore shows.  In fact, they had tables at the 1980's shows I visited, like at the World of Commodore in Los Angeles and in San Francisco.  I may have met them back then and didn't even know about it.
     Then Judy and Jenn led me to the garage.  There were boxes and containers of so much stuff... far more than what I had seen in the photos!
     Well, the boxes were not going to fit in my car, and we removed everything out of those boxes and placed the items in every nook and cranny in the interior of the car.  By the time, we had emptied out the boxes, I still had a bit of room until the top of the car's ceiling, between the seats and the windows, and under my legs at the driver's side.  No problem!
     I invited them to our October club picnic lunch/dinner, but it didn't seem that they wanted to travel all the way to Fresno.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

Photos will eventually be posted at http://retro-link.blogspot.com

The photos are up!  The exact link is

         http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/10/few-weeks-ago-judy-ranheim-widow-of.html

              Truly,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

     Hot on the heels of gathering the Ranheim cache of goods, this Sunday I go to look over another C= collection in Stockton.  I've asked FCUG member Alfredo M. to help me with this.  Perhaps he'll bring his pick-up truck, and then I won't have to stuff my Crown Vic again.

          Still recovering from the Amiwest Show,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

...I go to look over another C= collection in Stockton.  I've asked FCUG member Alfredo M. to help me with this.  Perhaps he'll bring his pick-up truck...

Mission partially accomplished!  Forgetting Alfredo's phone number, I went alone to meet up with Chuck, the gentleman who was disposing of his C= collection.  Too much to carry in one load!  I must have taken 1/3 of the goods this time.  I'll have to return on Sunday, Nov. 27 in order to pick up the rest of the hardware and software.

          More of a story to tell,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

I'll have to return on Sunday, Nov. 27 in order to pick up the rest of the hardware and software.

When I see Chuck again on the 27th, Rory and Jerold, the Hollywood filmmakers will following along in order to film the meeting.  Chuck is quite a person.  In my first meeting with him, he talked about how Commodore 64's were used at the secretive Lawrence Livermore Lab!  He was an engineering technician at the Lab back in those days.  I told him not to tell me any classified stuff.  
    Now retired, he guestimated that in the 1980's out of the 8,000 employees, a thousand used the C64's for machine control and for accounting/database.  Wow!  When the lab did not want the Commodores anymore, they would be put out in "salvage" where the other government departments could come and pick them out if they needed them.  If not needed, eventually they would be auctioned off to the public.
    After going to Chuck's place, I will make a return trip to Judy Ranheim's house.  Rory and Jerold may want to film her talking about the Jason Ranheim Company.

         Truly,
         Robert Bernardo
         Fresno Commodore User Group
         http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

When I see Chuck again on the 27th, Rory and Jerold, the Hollywood filmmakers will following along in order to film the meeting.

Yesterday was quite busy.  FCUG member Alfredo M. met me at my parents' house, in order to help me get the C= materials out of Chuck B.'s house.  Then a little while later, Rory and Jerold came in, after having spent the Thanksgiving holidays in San Francisco.  After some talk, we headed off to Chuck's place, Rory and Jerold in their car, Alfredo and me in Alfredo's Ford F-150.  It's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck!  All the while Rory and Jerold filmed, and Chuck was pleased to speak about Commodore and his various other hobbies - cameras, ham radio, guitars....

After going to Chuck's place, I will make a return trip to Judy Ranheim's house.  Rory and Jerold may want to film her talking about the Jason Ranheim Company.

Yup, Rory and Jerold filmed Judy and her daughter, Jen, talk about the company back in its heyday.  In essence, Judy repeated the stories she had told me in my first visit.  This time Judy brought out materials in a manila folder -- letters from the World of Commodore Show in Toronto and from the Commodore Shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco, advertisements for the Promenade C1, photo negatives and positives of the various Ranheim boards like the Promenade and the PCC series, hand-drawn layouts of the boards... wow, all very historical!
     After being there for an hour, I took off in my car and Rory and Jerold in their car, all of us heading through the fog back south, I going home, Rory and Jerold going to L.A..

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

It's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck!

Some of the notable items to come out of Chuck's closets... a C128DCR, a 1581, and a RAMLink v1.  The former two were a bit yellowed and went into storage.  The RAMLink has not been stored, because I want to test it out.  The last RL v1 that I tested was buggy, e.g., it wouldn't partition correctly for use with GEOS/Wheels.  Design flaw corrected by v2?  Well, I'll find out whether Chuck's RL v1 has the same bugs.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

     At last Saturday's TOGA meeting, I was about to sell a 1571 which came from Chuck's or John Ranheim's collection.  I was going to transfer the JiffyDOS chip out of Mitch Z.'s broken 1571 into the replacement 1571.  When we opened up the Chuck/John 1571, Mitch and I spotted a strange board taped to the side of the inner drive casing and a potentiometer wired in-line with the board?  What was it?!!!  The board had a 6502 on it and one of the wires from the board led to a solder point on the leg of a chip on the 1571 board.  We looked at the bottom of the mystery board, and there in miniscule writing it said, "SuperCard+ 1571 c1989".  Holy cow!  An original SuperCard+ !  What a disk copier!  Well, I cancelled the sale (and Mitch agreed), telling him I'd find another 1571 for him.
    Next day at the FCUG meeting, FCUG member Roger V. and I examined that 1571 and SuperCard+ board again and searched the Net for instructions and software.  The instructions were found, not the software.  The software search continues.

         Merry Christmas!
         Robert Bernardo
         Fresno Commodore User Group
         http://videocam.net.au/fcug
         The Other Group of Amigoids
         http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
         Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
         http://www.sccaners.org

         

[RobertB]

     SuperCard+ software found!  I downloaded it from Dan Mackey's site.

          Merry Christmas!
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group
          http://videocam.net.au/fcug
          The Other Group of Amigoids
          http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
          http://www.sccaners.org

[RobertB]

...FCUG member Alfredo M. met me at my parents' house, in order to help me get the C= materials out of Chuck B.'s house.  Then a little while later, Rory and Jerold came in, after having spent the Thanksgiving holidays in San Francisco.  After some talk, we headed off to Chuck's place, Rory and Jerold in their car, Alfredo and me in Alfredo's Ford F-150.  It's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck!  All the while Rory and Jerold filmed, and Chuck was pleased to speak about Commodore and his various other hobbies - cameras, ham radio, guitars....

Photos of the rescue have been posted at

          http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/12/picking-up-commodore-goods.html

               Happy New Year!
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[RobertB]

     Today I talked to Peg B. from the Palmdale/Lancaster area of California.  She wants to give away her Amiga 1000 set-up that has not been used in 20 years.  From the way she describes it, the A1000 has upgrades.  I wonder what they are?!
     I told her that I had just been to the SCCAN meeting in southern California on Saturday and that she had just missed me.  She wants to meet me halfway in order to hand over the system.  In Tehachapi?  Bakersfield?  Well, we couldn't decide, but it seems like Bakersfield might be the place.  We couldn't decide on a calendar date, either, for the exchange.  January weekends are already booked for me.  It might have to be on the second weekend of February or the third weekend of March.

           Another long-distance trip,
           Robert Bernardo
           Fresno Commodore User Group
           http://videocam.net.au/fcug
           The Other Group of Amigoids
           http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
           Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
           http://www.sccaners.org